2x2 photo: what it is, which documents want one and how to make it

A 2x2 photo is a square picture, 2 inches (50.8 mm) on each side, usually of one person’s head and shoulders on a plain background. It is the American shape: the US passport takes one, and so do the US visa, the DV lottery and, in a slightly different form, two Indian documents. getPNG’s passport photo maker crops a photo you took to that square, and this guide explains what the square has to contain. It does not turn any photo into one that is accepted: that decision belongs to the office that receives it, and a tool cannot make it for them.

What the 2x2 size actually is

“2x2” is inches. Everywhere else the same square is described in millimetres or pixels, and the three are easy to mix up, so here they are side by side.

The head is measured from the bottom of the chin to the top of the head. On a 2 inch square, 1 inch is half the height and 1 3/8 inches is 69 percent, which is why the US visa guide states the rule as “50 to 69 percent”. The pixel column is plain arithmetic on the print size (inches times 300), and it is the number to use when the file is going into an upload form instead of a printer. Printing a 600 x 600 file at 2 inches gives exactly the 300 dpi that photo labs expect.

Which documents want one

Four of the documents getPNG knows are square. Each figure below was read from the issuing authority’s own page on 17 September 2026, and the authority is named so you can read it yourself.

Two of these are easy to get wrong when you have done one before.

The OCI card is 51 mm, not 50.8, and it does not want white. A fraction of a millimetre makes no difference to a crop, but the background does: the OCI rule asks for a plain light colour and says white is not accepted. A photo that was perfect for a US passport can be the wrong one here.

The Indian visa is a square, and the Indian passport is not. The passport takes 35 x 45 mm, with the face at 80 to 85 percent of the frame. Indian passport photo size sets the two against each other.

Everything else in the passport photo requirements table is a portrait rectangle: 35 x 45 mm for the UK, Australia, Ireland, France, the Schengen visa and India’s passport, 50 x 70 mm for Canada and 33 x 48 mm for the Chinese visa. If the form says 2x2, it is one of the four above, or a form not covered here, and the form’s own page is the authority.

How big the head has to be

This is the rule that fails people, because the paper size is easy and the head size is not. It depends on how far away the camera was.

On a square the head takes half to just over two thirds of the height. That is a looser frame than a 35 x 45 mm photo. The UK asks for a head of 29 to 34 mm inside 45 mm, and Australia 32 to 36 mm, which is roughly two thirds to four fifths of the height. A head that is the right size for a 35 x 45 mm passport is too big for a 2x2 square, and a photo framed for a square has a head that is too small for the rectangle. Crop each one from the original photograph rather than converting one to the other.

Working backwards from the head makes the crop easy. Suppose that on your full-size photo the head measures 1,000 pixels from chin to crown:

• the head must fill 50 to 69 percent of the square, so the square is between 1,000 / 0.69 = about 1,450 and 1,000 / 0.5 = 2,000 pixels on a side;
• the middle of that range, 1,700 pixels or so, puts the head at about 59 percent, comfortably inside the band with room for a small error either way;
• the crop is then scaled down to 600 x 600 for an upload, or to 600 dpi for print.

You do not need to do that sum by hand. The passport photo maker draws the allowed bands on the preview and you move the photo until the crown and the chin sit inside them. The sum is worth knowing for one reason: it tells you how much picture you need to have taken. The crop needs 1,450 to 2,000 pixels of clear picture around a head of that size, so the head and shoulders with space above and at both sides. A photo framed tightly on the face has nothing left to crop from.

Getting a 2x2 photo from a phone photo

The wall, the light and the distance matter more than the camera, and how to take a passport photo at home covers them in full. The short version for a square:

1. A plain wall, a metre behind you, so the shadow falls on the floor and not on the wall.
2. Face a window, with no ceiling light and no flash.
3. Somebody else holds the phone at eye level, about two metres away, rear camera, with portrait mode and beauty filters off.
4. Leave room. Head and shoulders, with a generous margin above the head and on both sides. Shoot wider than you think you need.
5. Neutral face, eyes open, glasses off. The US pages do not allow glasses except for a medical reason with a signed note, and the Indian e-Visa does not allow them at all.

Then crop. The point of using a tool for this step is that the square has to be placed around the head, not around the middle of the picture, and the head is rarely in the middle of a phone photo.

Printing it

A 4 x 6 inch print holds six 2x2 squares, two across and three down, with nothing left over. That is why a kiosk or an online lab can print the sheet in one go and you cut it up. Order it as an ordinary 4x6 (10x15 cm) print on photo paper, at 100 percent with no border and no fit to page. Those two settings are the whole problem: left on, they shrink the sheet by a couple of millimetres to fit the printer’s margins, and the square you cut out is smaller than 2 inches.

Where a US visa interview or a DV selectee asks for two identical printed photos, print the sheet once and cut out two.

For an upload, check the file instead of the print: it should be exactly 600 x 600 pixels, a JPEG, and under the limit in the table. The head on screen should measure between 300 and 413 pixels from chin to crown. If the file is over the limit, compressing an image to an exact size explains why quality steps down rather than the pixel size, which the form insists on.

What a crop cannot fix

A cropping tool works with the photo it is given. It cannot repair:

• A shadow on the wall or a grey wall. getPNG tells you when the background looks too dark or uneven, and the answer is a new photo. The US pages reject a background replaced or cleaned up with a retouching tool, which is also why a background remover is the wrong tool for an ID photo, as passport photo backgrounds explains.
• Glasses, a tilted head or closed eyes. getPNG does not judge faces. You and the office do.
• Too little room above the head. If the square runs past the top of your picture, the photo has a gap that nothing should fill, and the office will see it. Take the photo wider.
• A soft or small photo. A photo sent through a messaging app is often too small to give a 600 pixel square with the head at the right size. Use the original file from the camera.
• A selfie at arm’s length. The lens distortion is the problem, not the crop.

getPNG crops and places the photo and does not judge the biometrics. Nobody can promise yours will be accepted, whatever badge a site shows: the State Department or the Indian authority makes that call.

Related documents and where to go next

For the full US passport rules, including the six month limit, head coverings and online renewal, read US passport photo requirements. The digital image for the DS-160 and the DV lottery, with its 240 KB limit, is in US visa photo requirements, and baby passport photos covers a newborn in a square. If your document is a rectangle, the table in passport photo requirements by country lists twelve of them with the official source for each.

An ID photo is a clear, front-on picture of your face, which is what a face-matching system wants. Before you upload one to any site, read whether it is safe to upload photos online.

The steps, in short

1. Take the photo wider than a square. Someone else holds the phone at eye level from about two metres away, with head and shoulders in the frame and clear space above the head and on both sides. You can crop in later, never out.
2. Work out the square from the head. Measure the head from chin to crown on the full-size photo. The square must be between 1.45 and 2 times that height, so the head fills 50 to 69 percent of it.
3. Crop the original, not a screenshot. Open getPNG's passport photo maker, drop the original file in, choose the document and move the crop until the crown and chin sit inside the guides.
4. Save it at the size the document wants. For an upload, save the JPEG at 600 x 600 pixels and under the file limit. For a print, download the 4x6 sheet, which holds six squares.
5. Print at 100 percent and measure. Print with no border and no fit to page, cut one square out and check it with a ruler: 2 inches each way, head between 1 and 1 3/8 inches.

Questions

What size is a 2x2 photo in pixels?

At 300 dpi, which is the usual print resolution, 2 inches is 600 pixels, so a 2x2 photo is 600 x 600 pixels. The US visa and DV lottery upload, the Indian e-Visa and the OCI upload all ask for exactly 600 x 600 pixels, with a different file size limit each (read from the issuing pages on 17 September 2026). A photo with more pixels prints just as well and is fine for a print, but an upload form that names a size wants that size.

How big should my head be in a 2x2 photo?

From the bottom of the chin to the top of the head, between 1 inch and 1 3/8 inches, which is 25.4 to 35 mm. On a 2 inch square that is 50 to 69 percent of the height. The US passport page gives 25.4 to 34.9 mm, the US visa, Indian visa and OCI pages give 25.4 to 35 mm.

Is a 2x2 photo the same as a passport photo?

Only for a US passport, and only if the rest of the rules are met as well. Most other countries use 35 x 45 mm, a portrait rectangle, and a square cropped from a photo framed for that puts the head in the wrong place. A 2x2 print of any photo is not automatically a passport photo.

Can I print a 2x2 photo at home or at a pharmacy?

Yes, on photo paper, at 100 percent with no border and no fit to page. Four by six inches is the standard print, and it holds six 2x2 squares exactly. Cut one out and measure it: a printer that scaled the sheet by two or three millimetres gives a square that is too small, and the fix is to print again with scaling off, not to trim.

Can I use a selfie for a 2x2 photo?

It is the one thing to avoid. At arm's length the lens is close enough to enlarge the nose and shrink the ears, and the head often ends up too large for the band. Have someone else take it from about two metres away, or prop the phone up and use the timer.

Does getPNG guarantee a 2x2 photo will be accepted?

No. getPNG crops and places the photo you took at the official size and shows the head against the allowed band. It does not judge the expression, the light on the face, glasses or shadows, and it never edits the background. The office that receives the photo decides whether it is accepted.